OUR OPINION: Tuition plan ill-timed, casts pall on reform effort

Tuesday

Hard as it may be to accept, Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to offer tuition breaks to children of illegal immigrants actually might benefit the state in the long run.

Hard as it may be to accept, Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposal to offer tuition breaks to children of illegal immigrants actually might benefit the state in the long run.

Massachusetts desperately needs skilled workers, and research has shown that Bay State residents educated at community colleges, state colleges and UMass are far more likely to stay here and contribute to the economy.

But pursuing this idea now, especially in an economy that continues to petrify even those with dependable employment, only feeds a growing sense of hysteria that has many convinced immigrants (legal or illegal) are public enemy No. 1.

It also puts an albatross around the neck of Patrick’s much broader goal of sweeping changes to the state’s policies regarding legal immigrants, including business loans to immigrant entrepreneurs and stimulus money for job training.

There isn’t anyone, left or right, who doesn’t think this nation’s immigration laws need an overhaul.

You don’t have to have a charitable bone in your body to support changes that can better help more immigrants establish legal residency and employment. The worker pool in this country is shrinking and if Social Security factors into your ability to enjoy retirement, you have a stake in whether new immigrants get the assistance needed to become lawful and productive citizens of this country.

An improved system could render much of the illegal immigrant debate moot.

But such significant policy changes are dependent on equally significant attitude changes, and kicking off that journey with an issue that has consistently been opposed by broad swaths of residents and legislators – Democrat and Republican – strikes us as counterproductive. It closes minds just when you need to open them.

Given the immediate economic challenges Massachusetts faces, the governor should be using his political capital to keep the public discussion focused on ways of improving the economy, creating jobs and getting the state back on track.

Harping on this issue now is a distraction we cannot afford.

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